I'm insanely embarrassed. I hate shopping, I face that full body mirror and see stretch marks, pale skin and a huge dropping tummy. It's embarrassing. I also, lately, have been struggling to find pants.

I have gone up and up and up in sizes. I was able to wear a size 16 last time I went shopping and that was somewhat squished. I have officially worn the inner seam of almost all my pants, and the ones that don't have holes, will not zip. I'm down to one pair of pants I can SQUEEZE into, and to be honest... I sit at my desk and undo the button and zipper so I can breathe. (I have my own office, so no one knows... but that's insanely embarrassing to admit).

I tried to go shopping the other day. I hate clothes, so, I start cheap. Goodwill, and... they had 4 jeans in my size. All were ugly. I tried Ross, also very few I could fit and since I have short legs, they all hung off so I stepped on a good 3-5 inches of bottoms. So, it was bad.

I don't know where to shop. I won't shop at a Wall mart or Target. I was thinking Dress Barn? I don't know. I can afford to shop at more pricey stores, I just don't want to. I want to drop pants sizes. I don't want to spend $25-$50 on a pair of pants I'm hoping I won't fit in a month or two. I was hoping some place cheap that has size 18+ for shorter legs. Any ideas? Cheap is nice, but If I have to splurge on a few pairs of pants, I guess that's what I'll have to do. I need business suits, jeans, and nice dress slacks.

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I've decided to leave 3FC, In the crowd of so many, those of us with no success that have the audacity to feel bad about our incredibly slow and almost stagnate weight loss, are merely a nuisance to those that are successful. I hope everyone else finds the support they need.

Do you have a Reitmans where you live? I am in Canada and they sell sizes 0-24 I think. Plus and regular, and also petite plus and petite regular. I really like the quality of the clothes there. Casual and dressy.

Hello. I am five four and a half, and currently weigh 158 lbs. I buy stretch corduroy pants in all colors from Macy's Dept. store. They have petite and regular sizes. I started out at 213 lbs, and I bought them then also. They are sold in the Charter Club section. They are not that expensive to begin with, and you can always find sales and coupons. Once you figure out your size, you can order them from Macy's online as well.

What about Lane Bryant? I know you didn't want to spend much but a good pair of jeans can be sooo worth it if it fits well and looks decent on you. Maybe try on a few pairs there to see what size you are in Lane Bryant sizing and then look for something on eBay. People are always selling their outgrown LB clothes on eBay, cheap!

Also I know you hate shopping at Wal Mart but Lee jeans sells a line of jeans there which are surprisingly flattering to the heavier figure. Target has rubbish for clothing these days; they only carry clothing for juniors. Even their ladies' and women's styles are just not good for real figures. What size 18 woman wears hiphugger low-waisted jeans? It's called a rise, clothing designers, and us heavy girls need more of it! Sheesh.

I just got some great jeans on sale at Kohl's in a plus size! Also, GAP and Old Navy have plus sizes online! I like Dress Barn too, and some Lane Bryant. I don't know if all of the Fashion Bugs went out of business? Woman Within and Roamans are good online resources, so is Just My Size.

I think that there is at least one thread about shopping plus size in the Looking Good, Feeling Great forum here.

Thank you for the suggestions everyone! I'll try out a few of the stores, like Macys. I only want to buy a few pairs. I hope I lose weight just enough to get into the size 14s I have. I have a ton of those! I just got too big to wear them. Once I get to that size, I can last for a while. Once I drop to sizes below that, maybe I won't hate shopping as much...

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I've decided to leave 3FC, In the crowd of so many, those of us with no success that have the audacity to feel bad about our incredibly slow and almost stagnate weight loss, are merely a nuisance to those that are successful. I hope everyone else finds the support they need.

I'm petite, and when I needed to shop for work clothes post-baby, I had a lot of luck with NY&Co. They have some very good sales and there was one pant that had a bit of stretch, but looked more professional. I bought about 3 pairs of those until I lost the weight.

I like Lord & Taylor, but I am almost 40 so I am not big on trendy stuff - I prefer more classic styles. I also like Ann Taylor and Talbots, and I think both of them have petite plus (which sounds like what you might be looking for). I am an attorney and need some "dress up" clothes for work, so while I get everyday business casual stuff at Kohls or Macys, when I have to look nicer, I bust out my better stuff.

It is a challnege for me now, too, because before I got pregnant with my second child, I was down to a 10 or so and I got rid of everything over 14, and most of my 14s. Now as I creep back down again, I need some 14s and was not too happy about having to shell out the $$$ for what I hope are very temporary clothes.

I went to the malls yesterday. I tried Macy's but they were well above the price range I'm willing to spend on pants I hope to not fit in a month or so. I then went around the mall in various other stores. Most of them, Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft, Express, Forever 21, Gap, Old Navy and a lot more, didn't even sell sizes above size 14 and the few pants I found were for maternity clothes! How embarrassing. It was worse when I was in one of the stores and the attendant kept giving me these looks. Maybe it was in my head, but I do swear she asked everyone else if they needed help finding something and NEVER approached me.

I found H&M finally. They have great prices. Pants and shirts starting at $5 and working up. There was also a sale so a lot of their clothes were greatly priced. Some of the shirts and business suits were insanely cute. I found very few pants that met my criteria of being my size, style, and when I tried the few I found on, they didn't fit right, looked awe-full, or I was too big for them. I left the mall with nothing and just wanted to cry. I actually took it out on my boyfriend. The poor guy said I had a lot of pants and asked why I didn't wear those, I admitted that the in seams were holed, or I was too fat to wear any of the ones I owned. I just threw away a lot of the ones with holes. He asked why and I lost it. I went off about how FAT I was, about how nothing in the mall fit me, about the girl in the Ambercrombie store, about how I'm so fat all my pants get holes in the thigh area. I just started crying. I wanted to eat brownies or something. I settled for celery. Which, I'm happy with. I need to change. I need to find a store that sells my size.

I desperately need to drop a size or two, then maybe shopping won't be so bad. T.T

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I've decided to leave 3FC, In the crowd of so many, those of us with no success that have the audacity to feel bad about our incredibly slow and almost stagnate weight loss, are merely a nuisance to those that are successful. I hope everyone else finds the support they need.

I've done much better emotionally buying pants on line. Yes, you may have to pay postage to return them if they don't fit, but if you figure in the cost of gas and your time for a mall trip, it makes up for the postage. You can try on in total privacy when you are in the right frame of mind and usually more sizes are available in more styles. Coldwater Creek has a lot of different styles and their petites go up to size 16. They also have womens plus sizes for most styles, but not petite plus sizes, unfortunately. They are kind of expensive if you don't shop their sales, but they have terrific sales on line and the quality is pretty good. I just ordered a couple of pairs of pants that were around $25 on sale. They usually tend to run true to size, and there are lots of reviews on line that I find helpful because they often say how they fit. They have stores too but I have hardly ever bothered because I usually find something on sale on line. I think they are kind of oriented toward the more "mature" woman, but pants, especially for work, are pretty basic. And I second the Kohls suggestion.